1. Field
The present invention generally relates to image processing systems, and more particularly to an image processing system and a method for adjusting the brightness of images.
2. Background
Generally, an ultrasound diagnostic system has become an important and popular diagnostic tool due to its wide range of applications. Specifically, due to its non-invasive and non-destructive nature, the ultrasound diagnostic system has been extensively used in the medical profession. Modern high-performance ultrasound diagnostic systems and techniques are commonly used to produce two or three-dimensional (2D or 3D) diagnostic images of a target object. The ultrasound diagnostic system generally uses a probe including an array transducer having a plurality of transducer elements to transmit and receive ultrasound signals. The ultrasound diagnostic system forms an ultrasound image of the internal structures of the target object by electrically exciting the transducer elements to generate ultrasound pulses that travel into the target object. The ultrasound pulses produce ultrasound echoes since they are reflected from a discontinuous surface of acoustic impedance of the internal structure, which appears as discontinuities to the propagating ultrasound pulses. Various ultrasound echoes return to the array transducer and are converted into electrical signals, which are amplified and processed to produce ultrasound data for forming an image of the internal structure of the target object. The ultrasound diagnostic system is very important in the medical field since it provides physicians with real-time and high-resolution images of human internal features without the need for invasive observation techniques such as surgery.
In the ultrasound diagnostic system, an ultrasound image needs to be optimized to clearly show a desirable portion for accurate diagnosis. The ultrasound image can be optimized by slightly adjusting the image parameters related to the brightness of an ultrasound image such as an axial gain compensation (AGC) parameter, a lateral gain compensation (LGC) parameter, a gain parameter and a dynamic range (DR) parameter.
However, since the adjustment of the image parameters is carried out based on the frame data and the volume data for a 3-dimensional ultrasound image are obtained based on the frame data, it is difficult to optimally improve the quality of the 3-dimensional ultrasound image.